Hewison stokes commissions debate
John Hewison
A former chairman of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) has called on the organisation to take the lead in banning commissions in the provision of financial advice.
The chief executive of Melbourne-based planning firm Hewison and Associates, John Hewison, today went to the trouble of retaining a public relations consultancy to get the message out that he believed the time for rhetoric was over and that commissions in the financial services industry should be banned.
He said he believes the integrity of the financial advice profession needed to be addressed by both regulators and the profession.
“In a perfect world the Australian Securities and Investments Commission would ban commissions and the FPA would do likewise,” Hewison said. “But the reality is that the regulator won’t take on the big end of town, so the FPA needs to step up and take a firm stance as the rightful guardian of the profession and the surrogate protector of the consumer.
“There is no doubt that it would be a gutsy move for the FPA as there would be a huge backlash from the institutions that have a foot in both camps,” he said. “But in my view, the FPA would weather that storm and come out of it with an even higher standing, because the community would know it fought for their right to untainted financial advice.”
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
Recommended for you
Stakeholders in the professional year discussion underscore the challenges in the current pipeline and what is holding back licensees from taking on new candidates.
Colonial First State has partnered with JP Morgan Asset Management to make its inaugural private equity allocation, continuing the firm’s expansion into unlisted asset classes.
Two law firms have highlighted licensees’ responsibility to ensure they have sufficient cyber security measures in light of the enforcement action against Fortnum Private Wealth.
A former director has pleaded guilty to providing financial product advice without holding an AFSL which saw almost $2 million transferred to him.
